Gloomy Salary Outlook For 2017, Reveals Survey

Malaysian employees wanting to greet 2017 with a bang will be left disappointed as they enter the new year on the back of a gloomy salary outlook.

According to the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), the reason for the bleak outlook is because Malaysian employees received lower salary increases and bonuses throughout 2016.

Based on a survey it ran this year, MEF said the average salary increase for non-executives in 2016 was at 5.51%, marginally higher than 5.44% last year. The executives had more reason to smile as their salary increase was slightly higher at 5.55% compared with 5.97% in 2015.

MEF president Tan Sri Azman Shah Haron said the overall average forecast salary increase for executives in 2017 is 5.30%, while it is forecast at 5.43% in 2017 for non-executives.

“The survey showed only 93.6% of the surveyed employers raised the pay of their executives, in contrast to 96.5% of them in 2015.

“As for the non-executives, only 95.4% of the respondents granted salary increases compared to 96.5% last year,” he said.

Azman added that only 63% and 61.3% of respondents granted bonus to all executives and non-executives, respectively.

The survey also highlighted the crucial need for graduates to improve their English proficiency in order to become more employable.

Also 73.2% of the surveyed employers indicated that graduates lacked skills in problem solving as well as communication skills.